A national conference to promote Jewish books and periodicals among Polish Jews was attended by 224 delegates representing all 26 branches of the Jewish Social and Cultural Association of Poland, it was reported here today from Warsaw.
Leib Domb, chairman of the association, which convened the conference in Breslau, said the event celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Jewish press and literature in postwar Poland, a period in which 350 Yiddish books had been published in Poland. He said that they included 150 original works published for the first time, 100 prose and 50 poetry.
Other speakers reported that the total distribution of Jewish books in the 20 years was 1,500 copies, a large number sent to Yiddish readers in other countries. Another achievement cited at the conference was the publication of 211 issues of the literary magazine, Yiddishe Schriften.
A recurring theme of the addresses was that despite all achievements, including the four-times-a-week Folkstimme, there were still many Polish Jews, particularly the younger ones, who lacked interest in Yiddish writings and ignored what was being published. This was attributed to the fact that the younger generation of Polish Jewry was not as much at home with Yiddish as were their forebears and also to some slackness in the promotion of Yiddish publications. The delegates were urged to find ways to overcome these two problems.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
